2003 4Runner Limited Averaging 12 mpg ?

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I just bought a used 2003 4Runner Limited and its only averaging 12mpg.

The computer says that its getting 16.2.

I had a 2001 Jeep Cherokee before this that was getting much better mileage. I never put over $60 a week into the Jeep.

I now put about $30 a day in gas into my 4runner.

Is this normal or could this SUV have a problem?

I'm pretty disappointed in Toyota and I'm thinking of selling it already after a week. Shame on Toyota. This car is in perfect condition and has only 50k miles.


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i'm guessing it's v8 2wd? that sounds pretty low... do you have the service history on it? The only things I've done maintenance wise is 38psi in the tires, air filter, synthetic oil every 5k, and amsoil in the diff/transfer case at around 50k miles. I'm at 60k and so far have an avg of 17-18mpg since I bought it. Check the air in your tires first since you just got it and increase it to around 38psi... it will help a lil with your mpg.
 
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I would only take it to the dealer if you have a warranty. I don't check how many miles per tank because I rarely fill it up. I am rare in that I vary my gas purchases based on price. When the price goes down, I buy more, when it goes up I buy less. I rarely put more than a half of a tank in at a time- unless I'm on a long trip.
 
tomhaney1 said:
I would only take it to the dealer if you have a warranty. I don't check how many miles per tank because I rarely fill it up. I am rare in that I vary my gas purchases based on price. When the price goes down, I buy more, when it goes up I buy less. I rarely put more than a half of a tank in at a time- unless I'm on a long trip.
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Well I actually bought it from a reliable Power Direct Honda dealership. I don't want to take it there until I get a 2nd opinion and I think a Toyota dealership might be best because they deal with 4runners all of the time.

I checked out the carfax when making the purchase and the car is perfect as far as that goes.
 
I'm currently getting around 14.5, which seems to be about 2 mpg lower than I usually get. If you find out what the problem is with your truck, please post.
 
I was having some issues with my 4runner awhile back. So I changed the air filter, cleaned the maf sensor and disconnected the battery to let the computer reset. After all that was done i saw an immediate jump in mpg's. It may be worth a shot... Air filter is probably $15 and maf sensor cleaner is $7 at autozone. I would try that. Also i would try running some fuel injector cleaner through it on some good fuel i.e. premium. Make sure if you do that though run your tank empty than fill up with premium and put in the fuel injector cleaner and than run that entire tank out also. Also use good fuel injector cleaner i.e. BGK44 or Lucas
 
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TTurner said:
I was having some issues with my 4runner awhile back. So I changed the air filter, cleaned the maf sensor and disconnected the battery to let the computer reset. After all that was done i saw an immediate jump in mpg's. It may be worth a shot... Air filter is probably $15 and maf sensor cleaner is $7 at autozone. I would try that. Also i would try running some fuel injector cleaner through it on some good fuel i.e. premium. Make sure if you do that though run your tank empty than fill up with premium and put in the fuel injector cleaner and than run that entire tank out also. Also use good fuel injector cleaner i.e. BGK44 or Lucas
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Those are great suggestions.

I have never really trusted the gasoline mileage calculation by the computer. I try getting it by manual calculation based on a full-tank of gas and the odometer reading.

Does anyone know what is the max capacity of the gas tank on a V6 SR5 4WD drive? I believe it is 23 gallons for both V6 and V8 4th Gens.

Thanks
 
umm i dont know if it is that high the most ive been able to get in my v8 is 20 gallons..... correction i just looked it up online and it says 23 gallons. I guess i've never ran mine that low before. LOL!!! good to know though
 
TTurner said:
I was having some issues with my 4runner awhile back. So I changed the air filter, cleaned the maf sensor and disconnected the battery to let the computer reset. After all that was done i saw an immediate jump in mpg's. It may be worth a shot...
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I've changed the air filter and cleaned the MAF sensor. No difference. I didn't try disconnecting the battery. Did you have to reprogram anything after disconnecting the battery?
 
michael90630 said:
Those are great suggestions.

I have never really trusted the gasoline mileage calculation by the computer. I try getting it by manual calculation based on a full-tank of gas and the odometer reading.

Does anyone know what is the max capacity of the gas tank on a V6 SR5 4WD drive? I believe it is 23 gallons for both V6 and V8 4th Gens.
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The max capacity of the gas tank is not used when computing MPG. Fill up the tank and reset the trip odometer. At the next fill up, note the amount of gas put in the tank. Divide the miles on the trip odometer by the gallons pumped.

I've always found that the computer on my '03 is 1-2 mpg optimistic.
 
There is nothing you have to reprogram. But by disconnecting the battery it resets the computer. So than the computer will "relearn" the best air-fuel mixture ratio to get the best mpgs out of your motor. Cause if you dont reset the computer it will continue using the first air to fuel ratio which may be to rich/lean. I have done it on my 4runner and my 2001 F150 4x4 w/ 5.4L V8 on both vehicles my mpgs went up. And i calculate mine by hand not by the computer thing.

When you disconnect the battery make sure to disconnect both side and leave it disconnect for about 3 min.
 
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Thanks for the advice. I'll give that a shot. I thought I'd read somewhere that you might have to reregulate your power windows, which scared me off the procedure.
 
TTurner said:
I was having some issues with my 4runner awhile back. So I changed the air filter, cleaned the maf sensor and disconnected the battery to let the computer reset. After all that was done i saw an immediate jump in mpg's. It may be worth a shot... Air filter is probably $15 and maf sensor cleaner is $7 at autozone. I would try that. Also i would try running some fuel injector cleaner through it on some good fuel i.e. premium. Make sure if you do that though run your tank empty than fill up with premium and put in the fuel injector cleaner and than run that entire tank out also. Also use good fuel injector cleaner i.e. BGK44 or Lucas
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That is exactly what I was going to suggest. I bought a $3 fuel system cleaner from Wollyworld and my gas mileage actually went up a little. I would spend the money on a K&N drop in air filter so you can just keep re-using it and it flows a little better than stock.
 
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